These Moments
by Rossnrachgal
Summary: A collection of Niles and Daphne one-shots. Moments from their relationship. In no particular order. Written as they come to me. Rating for some references.


One Year

Daphne had finally caught her breathe from another mind-blowing lovemaking session with Niles. Her legs draped over his lower body as he lay still, eyes closed, and a grin on his face from cheek-to-cheek. She twirled her fingers through his chest hair, which was something that had become one of her favorite intimate moments with him. It was one of the dozens of things she had come to adore about him. Perhaps he wasn't the most chiseled man she had ever been with, but his small frame was enough to envelop her when he made love to her. It was enough to make her feel loved, sensual, and protected from the rest of the world. His gorgeous chest hair framed his upper body perfectly, and she could never get enough of it.

Niles took her hand with his, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss. He absolutely adored her hands and wanted to hold them as much as he could. Something like hand holding in public, alone on the couch, or even after making love was something most people would never have to think twice about with their significant other. But for Niles, who for years had been in an unloving, manipulative marriage with Maris, did think about it. It was something so simple, but he was denied this sign of affection for so long. Now he had found happiness with Daphne, and he wanted to share the simple, sweet affection of holding her hand every chance he got.

"Do you know how much I love you?" Niles said giddily as he softly brushed the sweaty hairs from Daphne's eyes.

"No, you better remind me," she playfully replied as she used her finger to lightly draw an imaginary heart across his chest.

"I love you more than anything in this world. I'm the luckiest guy alive."

"You are, are you? And why is that?" she continued, jokingly.

But Niles' tone turned serious. He removed his arm from under her head and sat up. "Because before you came into my life, I felt alone and empty."

"Honey...," Daphne tried to say.

"It was so hard to love you for all those years and not be able to tell you how I felt," he admitted, retaking Daphne's hand as she sat up next to him. She grazed her fingers across his cheek.

"I know, sweetie. I'm so glad you finally did though."

"It's just that I was at the point that I thought maybe I didn't deserve to have someone like you. Maris always treated me like the scum of the Earth, and then I decided to settle for Mel. I thought the chance to be with you was really gone. The night I had to watch you say yes to forever with someone else was the most difficult night of my life."

"Niles, you know I'm sorry for that," Daphne whispered, clearly hurt by that the face he was bringing it up.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad about it. I just want you to know that the last year has been the best of my life. My life has had a purpose since you became my girlfriend."

Daphne smiled shyly at Niles, lightly drawing circles across the palm of his hand. She tried to keep back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Me too. I can't believe that it was one year ago today that you were having a fake wedding reception with another woman while I had just called off my actual wedding."

"I remember clearly how much I wanted to run out of there that night and go on our date. I just wanted to hold you in my arms and tell you that everything was going to be alright."

They sat in silence together for a few moments, both reflecting on the last year to themselves. It had been a year of so many emotions.

The first two months of their relationship found them having to stay in hiding. There were times in those first few weeks that Daphne had wondered if it was worth it. After all, she had given up a lot to be with Niles, only to watch him go out of his way to meet all of Mel's demands. But then he would show up at the apartment to visit her after a fake evening with Mel's friends and all of those doubts would disappear in an instant. He made her feel on top of the world. She had never imagined she could love someone this much. Yes, he was the snobby Niles Crane who loved wine and opera, but when they were alone together, he was just a sweet, funny, and caring man that made her feel like a queen. His amazing blue eyes captured her heart every time he entered the room, and she wondered how she'd gone so many years without being enamored by them.

Daphne's weight gain had been another hurdle they had tackled together, with Daphne admitting she was afraid of letting Niles down when they would finally make love for the first time. Niles had to admit that maybe he did put her on a pedestal and put too much pressure on her, even if it was unintentional. But the weight had truly never bothered him. Those closest to him would say he only loved her due to his physical attraction for her. And while his attraction to her is what initially left him thinking about her, ultimately it was all of her genuine qualities that he fell in love with. Her wittiness, kindness, adorable laugh, and eccentric manner made his heart flutter more every day. Who would have thought that a quirky girl from Manchester would turn out to be the love of his life?

And so while they had faced obstacles together in their first year, they both knew that every moment they shared together was well worth it.

Niles got up from the bed and went to his suitcase across their hotel room. They were staying in a magnificent seaside resort in Belize. Niles had decided to splurge for the luxury suite. Of course, he had originally planned on an intimate weekend in his apartment for their one-year anniversary, but was now glad that he had decided to go along with Daphne when she discovered Frasier's brochure for Belize.

"I know that technically tomorrow is the one year anniversary of our first date, and I was going to wait and give this to you then," he said as he pulled a small box from his bag and returned to Daphne in bed. He handed her the box as her eyes widened with excitement.

"Go ahead, open it," he insisted.

Daphne carefully opened the box that she knew had to be held jewelry. She was stunned to find a beautiful pair of sapphire earrings inside. Her small smile turned into a full beam of happiness as she studied the stones.

"Niles, you didn't a have to..." Daphne whispered.

"I saw them a couple of months ago and wanted to wait until the perfect occasion to give them to you."

"They are absolutely exquisite'" she cheerfully replied, grabbing at his wrist and pulling closer for an intimate kiss.

"They reminded me of the time Frasier bought you those earrings from Raymond's. You loved them so much. Well, I think it's time someone bought you the real thing."

"Niles Crane, you are the most incredible man, and I love you. I don't deserve this though," she tearfully confessed.

"Of course you do, darling. I love you with all my heart and this is just one way I can show you how much I love you."

She kissed him again, passionately to the point that he had to pause. "I may need just a few more minutes to recover from our last session, but I'll be ready to go in just a few..."

"Oh you silly sod," Daphne giggled as she cut him off. "I've got something for you too."

She purposely teased Niles as she swayed her hips, walking across the room to her suitcase.

"I've got everything I need right here," he flirted, playfully eyeing her up and down as she returned to the bed with a small package in her hand.

"I was planning to give this to you tomorrow as well, but why wait? In some ways, yesterday was our anniversary if you think about it. I'd say it was really the day we got together. Calling off the wedding and deciding to be with you is the best thing I've ever done."

"I certainly agree with that," he said.

Niles opened the box and found a set of silver cuff links inside. They were engraved with "N+D".

"Daph, they're beautiful," Niles said with a smile radiating across his face.

"You really like them? They're not too cheeky?"

"They are perfect. I love them," he replied, kissing her in the process.

"Your snooty brother won't make fun of you for them?"

"If he does I'll just remind him that I'm the luckiest guy of all and I'm not afraid to show it."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest woman in the world, Niles. I still don't know what I did to deserve someone like you."

"Nonsense. I'm the one that doesn't deserve you. You don't wish I was some muscular hunk that could be on the cover of one of your novels?"

"Hardly, you're perfectly sexy just the way you are," she flirted.

Niles rubbed his fingers up and down her arms, cherishing the perfection of this vacation with his love.

"Speaking of sexy, I don't know what got into you today, but I love it," Niles said, referring to their rendezvous in a secluded cove on the beach.

"I just thought it would be fun to be a little risky," Daphne confessed.

"It certainly was fun. Tomorrow we're going to have to go and see if there's any photographic evidence of our little adventure."

"Bloody, hell. I had nearly forgotten about that. I can't believe there may be pictures of us floating around out there," she said, pointing to the door.

"Well, I'll do what I can to get them back if there are any."

They snuggled back into each other.

"One year of us," Daphne whispered after a few moments of silence.

"One year of love. Well, eight if you count the seven years I loved you in silence."

"One year ago, I fell hard. I fell madly in love with my best friend."

"One year of getting to tell you that you're the most beautiful woman in the world, my love."

"One year of learning to try to like opera," Daphne laughed.

"One year of knowing what true happiness and love could feel like. Even with someone that doesn't like opera."

Niles interlaced Daphne's fingers with his. "One year of us."


End file.
